Numbers, Comparisons, Beetle

Some Numbers

Days the adoption paperwork has been in Haiti for processing:
.....897 (we were told at the time 9-12 months or 270 to 360 days)

Days the Schlorf's have been living in Haiti with Lou:
.....457 (we thought no more than one year which we thought was unrealistically long)

Days waiting for the passport in Haitian Immigration:
.....15 working days (after an expected 2-3 days as stated by the orphanage director three times)

Days waiting for the passport in Haitian Immigration for the second attempt due to lost paperwork:
.....3-4 whole days (depending on when it was actually dropped off)

We have just realized that we have been here for more than half of the whole adoption process, as far as the paperwork being in Haiti. We rest in knowing that the Lord's plans are more well-conceived than our own (perfectly conceived). God is good! All the time!

Comparison

This is a good reminder about comparing (it is related to disabled children, but can be applied to everything, including how longs other have to wait to complete an adoption in Haiti).

Beetle

This hit our window last night and we thought it was a bird. It buzzed around a little so we picked it up and played with it. It was hard as a rock (almost) and clunked around inside the container. We let him go after about an hour.

Transmission - Part II

It's been a while since I have posted any boring car stuff. The adoption stuff is beginning to get boring, too. I may call about the progress on the passport on Wednesday afternoon, but I am not sure yet so...

Boring Car Stuff...

The transmission on the old Toyota that I repaired a few thousand miles ago started going bad about a month ago. I thought for sure that I did something wrong when I put it back together but after taking it apart today, another part failed that caused 3rd and 4th gear to go bad. It also chewed up the synchronizers for 3rd and 4th as well as took a couple chunks out of a few gears. Tomorrow they'll hopefully buy the parts and Wednesday I'll hopefully put it back together.

2-3 Days Part II

The orphanage director fortunately has copies of the papers needed for the passport and told me (again) that it will take 2-3 days. I am assuming that she will deliver the paperwork tomorrow, so I am hoping for Wednesday next week based on what she stated. We will see... Again, I will keep you posted. Monday will be day 1 of the 2-3 days (I am not including the delivery day).

This isn't so bad. It is a little easier to be talking about days now instead of weeks or months. There is only one more set of paperwork to lose (the visa), but it doesn't matter - I think that I am finally getting the hang of trusting our Lord more about the final timing and not worrying about the details in between (I am GETTING there...I am not THERE yet...).

We Interrupt...

...this commercial break for some late breaking adoption news:

This just in 45 minutes ago, we regret to inform you that Haitian Immigration lost the paperwork for processing the passport. We'll keep you informed as details are known.
_____________

It's a good thing that, in spite of the incredible amount of hardships, we are accomplishing our primary goal: Saving Lou from literally YEARS (1.25 years so far) of being stuck in an orphanage.

Another Commerical Break

For your reading enjoyment (long and good).

Indication

If the lack of a post yesterday is any indication of what is happening, I can tell you that nothing has indeed happened. I am not planning to call the orphanage director for while - it is pointless. She really has no idea when the passport will be out of Haitian Immigration and until it goes a really long time, she won't go there and ask them to work on it.

So in the Lord's timing, we'll get our passport and we'll be on our way. Until then, I offer you this valuable commercial break:

Morning and Evening
A Devotional Series
by Charles H. Spurgeon

Morning Devotion
Thursday, September 24, 2009

"For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him." {#Ezr 8:22}

A convoy on many accounts would have been desirable for the pilgrim band, but a holy shame facedness would not allow Ezra to seek one. He feared lest the heathen king should think his professions of faith in God to be mere hypocrisy, or imagine that the God of Israel was not able to preserve his own worshippers. He could not bring his mind to lean on an arm of flesh in a matter so evidently of the Lord, and therefore the caravan set out with no visible protection, guarded by him who is the sword and shield of his people. It is to be feared that few believers feel this holy jealousy for God; even those who in a measure walk by faith, occasionally mar the lustre of their life by craving aid from man. It is a most blessed thing to have no props and no buttresses, but to stand upright on the Rock of Ages, upheld by the Lord alone. Would any believers seek state endowments for their Church, if they remembered that the Lord is dishonoured by their asking Caesar’s aid? as if the Lord could not supply the needs of his own cause! Should we run so hastily to friends and relations for assistance, if we remembered that the Lord is magnified by our implicit reliance upon his solitary arm? My soul, wait thou only upon God. "But", says one, "are not means to be used?" Assuredly they are; but our fault seldom lies in their neglect: far more frequently it springs out of foolishly believing in them instead of believing in God. Few run too far in neglecting the creature’s arm; but very many sin greatly in making too much of it. Learn, dear reader, to glorify the Lord by leaving means untried, if by using them thou wouldst dishonour the name of the Lord.

Nothing

So we wait... Might call orphanage director by Wednesday to stay in the front of her mind.

Our Plans: Donations

As we draw near to the end of the adoption journey, we are also nearing the end of our missionary journey. I published a post a while ago that we have determined with prayer and reading that the season of life that we are in right now is one of "family." We are going to put our mission-season on hold until the family-season is over.

If you donate to us through the Baptist Haiti Mission after we leave, the Baptist Haiti Mission will send your donation back to you. Some people have mentioned a desire to help us transition back to life in the States and want to continue to help support us for a short time - we greatly appreciate this! If you choose to do so, please email us directly and we can work out those details. I will be looking for work in the same industry that I left (Financial Services/Brokerage), but if I am unable to find that work I will be looking in another industry/area.

As soon as we can, we will be leaving for the States. When we find out that we are finished with everything, we'll look for the first cheapest flight and we'll be on it. It is possible that we could be back in the States by this coming weekend at the very earliest (Lord willing!).

I600 APPROVED!!!

I just got an email from the USCIS guy who has been working so hard for us. He said that our I600 is approved and that he was going on vacation so he gave us another person to check with if we need to. This is great news! We are just a passport and a doctor visit away from being finished!

Praise God!

Still: Nothing

I called the orphanage director yesterday afternoon and I asked her a couple questions. One being if she thought we would have the passport by now. Of course, she didn't think we would - she must have forgotten that she told me 2-3 days to get the passport. I asked her when she thought we would have it and she, once again, told me what I wanted to hear: early next week. I don't have much (if any) faith in what she tells me, but again, based on other adoption processes early next week sounds about right.

Still nothing from the USCIS. Our good guy must be on vacation or something as he hasn't responded in a couple days to an email I sent. So we are still waiting for an official approval on our I600.

Side note (or should I say back note): My back is slowly getting better. I did a bit of walking around yesterday and as I got up this morning, it's doing well. I'll try to take it easy over the weekend and get back to work Monday.

Happy Birthday Sister

I wanted to give my sis
a big birthday wish.

We will soon be home to make
your birthday special by eating cake.

And by bringing your niece and two nephews,
one of them being altogether new.

We hope today you have a good one,
We look forward to seeing you - we're almost done!

Nothing new

No news from yesterday. Today is day 7 of a 2-3 day wait for the passport. I really think that we'll have the passport out Monday, but I'd like to hold people to their word - a little accountability. I'll be giving our orphanage director a call today to stay in the front of her mind.

No news regarding the I600 and the fingerprints. I am anticipating hearing something today, but that is based on no solid information (just a want - I WANT to hear something today).

Almost..., Side Note

The translation is done and I have emailed it to the USCIS person who has been so very helpful. He is working on the fingerprint situation so we do not have to go take them again. Once he has that squared away, we should have our approved I600 which makes the visa all ready once the passport is finished. I am thinking that we will have that today or tomorrow.

We are on day 6 of a 2-3 day passport process according to our orphanage director. She told me 3 days ago that we would have it yesterday or the day before. I am thinking that any and all dates are just random guesses to keep us going. We have seen how long it takes for other people, so we are not too surprised by missing these dates that she gives us. We are thinking based on others' experience that we'll have the passport completed Monday.

After the passport is done, we need to have a doctor appointment set up for Lou which may take a day or two and then a day or two to get the visa linked to the passport. Then...it's over. So...almost...

Side Note

We got more food in at the mission for the affiliated schools and churches. I have been helping to unload/load the sacks of rice, beans, etc... Yesterday, I was lifting the sacks down off the truck to workers so they could carry them on their heads elsewhere and I pulled a muscle in my back. I have been sitting and laying down ever since (it happened in the morning). I will not be working today either because it is too bad. I can hardly walk and sleeping wasn't too good last night. I have a friend that recently fell off a ladder and he broke two vertabre (among other things) - I now have a very brief idea of how he feels. I am sure he is/was much worse than I am. Dave, I hope you are feeling better!

Still Waiting

I am very thankful to have found someone here at the mission to work on the translation of three pages for the USCIS to approve the I600 in the States instead of in Haiti. It appears that an excellent job will be done and it should be done today if things went as planned. I will then scan the originals and send them to the USCIS for approval - I anticipate a day or two for that approval.

As far as the title of this post, we are still waiting for the passport. Today is day 5 of a 2-3 day wait. Since we do not have the I600 finished yet, there is no time lost waiting for this passport, but it would be nice to have it ready and waiting when we finish the I600. The I600 could have all been done a long time ago had the Orphans First program information been followed through on by all parties in this adoption process. We trust and rely on our faithful Lord.

We are getting a little anxious around here wanting to pack and sort through things. We have said that we won't be doing anything until the passport is finished. As soon as we hear that it's done, we'll be packing like squirrels on a sunny autumn day in Minnesota. It is difficult to maintain composure sometimes - I am starting to allow myself to be excited and happy that we may actually be near the end!

Things Seem to be Moving

I called our orphanage director three times yesterday. The first was unanswered. The second, I inquired with her regarding the passport. She said that it would be today or tomorrow (meaning yesterday or today as I write). It didn't happen yesterday so we are hoping for tomorrow. Yesterday was 3 full business days.

The third call was because of information that I had gained through emails from one of the folks in the St. Paul USCIS office. This genlteman has been awesome in helping us out.

He managed to be able to locate and transfer our fingerprints from the two other times we had had it done and apply them to our current situation and paperwork. That means that we don't have to figure out a way to get there and do the fingerprints and wait for it to process for the I600 paperwork.

Additionally, he said that instead of sending the paperwork that orginally got lost to Haiti and waiting for them to process it, if I could get the final adoption decree and have it translated, he could approve the I600 there and we would not have to wait/rely on the USCIS in Haiti to approve it.

So, yesterday afternoon I drove down to the orphanage director's place and picked up a copy of the adoption decree. I have the paperwork here on my table now and will be taking it to one of three possible folks here at the mission that can translate it for us.

Once I get it translated, I will be emailing it to the USCIS gentleman and he'll approve it (perhaps within a day or two) and the I600 part will be all set for the visa. Hopefully we'll get the passport done today, too. Once we get that, we have to take Lou to a doctor for a basic medical exam that is required as part of this process (one of the USCIS's recommended doctors has to do it).

We are possibly looking at having everything finalized by the end of next week. I, personally, am starting to feel rather giddy inside. So far, we our excitement has been tempered because of our familiarity with how things can go here, but things are looking well and from what I know, we are out of the bribery stages so things should go fairly smoothly (Lord willing!). Stay tuned!

Of the Lord

Often (very often) times, as we are going through this lengthy adoption process, I have struggled with knowing how much to do myself and how much to sit back and wait for God to work on His own (because He is always working and doesn't NEED my help).

There seem to be many things that we can do so that we can "do all that we can" and leave the results up to God. I believe that one of the MANY things that God has taught me by being here and going through the adoption process is that we must put forth our efforts under Biblical scrutiny (i.e., do not do things that do not represent a true Christian) and the results of those efforts are always of the Lord.

I read these great few sentences in Spurgeon's Morning and Evening this morning and I thought I would share as it addresses what I have learned and strengthens what I have learned:

The pilgrims dig the well, but, strange enough, it fills from the top instead of the bottom. We use the means, but the blessing does not spring from the means. We dig a well, but heaven fills it with rain. The horse is prepared against the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord. The means are connected with the end, but they do not of themselves produce it. See here the rain fills the pools, so that the wells become useful as reservoirs for the water; labour is not lost, but yet it does not supersede divine help.

More Violence Today

The U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince is issuing this Warden Message to alert U.S. citizens that a violent demonstration is occurring in downtown Port-au-Prince. Protestors are burning tires near the Faculty of Ethnology (corners of Ave Magloire Amboise/Ave Magny and Ave Magloire Amboise/Rue St. Honoré), have put chairs on Ave Magloire Amboise, and are throwing rocks at passing vehicles from inside the Faculty of Ethnology. Haitian National Police (PNH) is attempting to evacuate the area, but demonstrators are attacking HNP with rocks. HNP has in response deployed crowd-control gas, but is not yet able to control the demonstrators. American citizens are advised to avoid this area and should monitor media coverage to stay abreast of the situation as it develops. Americans in Haiti are advised to remain alert and to avoid all demonstrations as they can result in violence and require police intervention. They should be aware of their surroundings at all times and are encouraged to register with the U.S. Embassy.

Not a Big Deal

Towards the end of yesterday, we were working a bit on our I600 paperwork that was found (workin in terms of making sure that it is finished, OK, and ends up in the right place). It turns out that our fingerprints have expired for the paperwork and we were asked when we could make it to the St. Paul, MN office. Well, we can't. They have a procedure for renewing fingerprints from overseas so... That's the route we'll be figuring out today, we hope.

And...why do fingerprints expire? I thought they never changed... We have had them done twice now (this will be the third) and they use a big, fancy, inkless, scanning device that can't possibly allow the prints to expire. How many times do they need them on file? One of those things that make you wonder what is going on - and this is State-side.

Dominoes

Yesterday I took this picture as I hung out and watched the Haitian workers play during lunch. They play an interesting game - not quite the way I used to play with my family. They get intense too by slamming them down sometimes as they play.

Violence in Downtown Today

Per the US Embassy:

The U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince is issuing this Warden Message to alert U.S. citizens that a violent demonstration is occurring near the National Palace, Champs de Mars, and the State Universities in downtown Port-au-Prince. Protestors are throwing stones at passing vehicles, and are specifically targeting vehicles with Police, Official, and Service d’Etat license plates, but have attacked other vehicles as well. Numerous vehicles have had their windows smashed. Haitian National Police (PNH) is reinforcing its presence in the area and has requested backup, but the area is not yet under control. American citizens are advised to avoid this area and should monitor media coverage to stay abreast of the situation as it develops. Americans in Haiti are advised to remain alert and to avoid all demonstrations as they can result in violence and require police intervention. They should be aware of their surroundings at all times and are encouraged to register with the U.S. Embassy.

Paperwork found!!!

I just got an email and it appears that the paperwork has been found and it has been found approved! It appears to be in the State-side office (MN?). We found this information thanks to our Lord through our state senator's office. Things are looking good, but we are still in Haiti and anything can, and often does, happen here. So we continue to wait upon the Lord.

After the passport is finished, the found paperwork will yield us a visa and then we are done here in Haiti. We were told 2-3 business days to complete the passport which puts us at Monday. We are (I am) adding a week to that and would say that we should be done by the 16th with the passport and the next day or 2 or 3 and then we'll be OK'd to go back to the States. We'll be heading back as soon as the cheap flights are available through AA - so I am thinking in about two weeks (Lord willing).

Whew...almost there...

Zero

We have had zero response from the US Embassy (USCIS) with a total 3-4 people trying to get to them via email regarding our case and missing paperwork. I am pretty tempted to try to go down there tomorrow and rattle some cages to see if anyone is home. If it doesn't happen tomorrow, it'll be Monday.

To clarify what I mean by "rattle some cages" I simple mean show up and ask questions. We have met the person who we think is (or at least she was) working on our case and I would like to have a conversation with her.

Out of MOI!! - Part 2

We are now officially out of MOI!! The signed paperwork sat in MOI for a week and a half, but we now have our paperwork in Haitian Immigration awaiting a passport. We are hopeful that this takes no longer than one week.

Now to find the paperwork that finalizes the last step...the visa that goes on the passport. We are doing our research and have a couple people looking into it for us.

Two things left...passport and visa!

Helpful

This was helpful to me this morning.

Adoption: New (Different) News

According to our orphanage director, I just found out that, Lord willing, tomorrow (we'll believe it when we see it) the paperwork will go from MOI to Haitian Immigration so they can work on the passport (it was formerly yesterday). So that's one and a half weeks with the paperwork sitting signed and nothing happening to it - no progress. I hope that the last story we were told about the passport taking 2-3 days doesn't change the next time I have a conversation. I keep trying to remind myself: All in the Lord's timing.

A Great Read...

This is worth the price of admission to my blog.

Non-Adoption Topic: Pictures

Here is a shot today of Kayla - Tina cut her hair a bit:


Here is a shot of a turantula that was near one of the doors by the director's home a couple days ago:

What Else? Don't Ask.

As a missionary, you get distracted often and sometimes forget things (yea, I know - hard to believe and it doesn't just happen to missionaries). Here is something that I forgot to take out of my pocket before it goes into the washing machine. Hopefully they'll let me back into the States. (The other paperwork is supposed to be for my Haitian driver's license that I have been working on getting for MONTHS!)

Worst Possibility for Paperwork

As we near the end, we discussed what the worst case scenario could be with what we have left to do to complete the adoption. It turns out that currently, that "worst case" is upon us that we discussed.

The US Embassy/USCIS (United States Csomething and Immigration Services) has managed to lose our I600 paperwork which we need to get the last part done (the visa that goes on the passport that we are working on now). It cannot be found. They claim to have sent it to the States over a week ago, but the States haven't seen it. It's gone. All other families adopting from Haiti get a notice saying that they have an approved I600 - we don't have that and our paperwork is now missing.

Our adoption agency person is working on tracking it down and so are we through our orphanage director. Hopefully one of them can figure out what is going on.

We are very frustrated to say the LEAST.

Additionally, we are trying to track the paperwork out of MOI. We keep getting different stories from one person in particular. At one point, people could go to MOI and pick up paperwork only on Tues and Thurs. Then that date changed to Friday. Now after talking with that same person, no one can pick up paperwork at MOI. MOI sends the paperwork to Immigration (USCIS?). Hopefully if MOI really does send paperwork to the USCIS they don't lose the whole file, too.

God is allowing us to go through the wringer. Are we being successful in this additional test? At times we feel we are not. Please pray with us that this will all be over!

Haitian Toilet Paper Visor

We have been patching Lou's good eye to make the bad eye work more instead of it being lazy. The problem is that lazy eye stays planted in the corner towards his nose and we had been telling him to straighten his head and look forward instead of in the corner towards his nose.

This is my recent invention and solution to the problem. It's called the Haitian Toilet Paper Visor. Now he has no choice but to look forward when he wants to see something. His brother wanted to make him feel better so we made one for him, too. Enjoy!

Out of MOI!!

The news that we have is that we are out of MOI after 255 days (8 months and 12 days) - I feel that I can now share that news. As with most stories regarding adoptions in Haiti, there is more to the story - that "more" I cannot provide at this point in time.

The important thing is that we are out and we are hoping/expecting to have a passport by the end of the next week. There is a possiblity that we could be done with the adoption by the end of September. We'll see how things go from here on out.

As always, we appreciate your prayers and praises to our Lord for the work He has done!

News, Weekend

We believe we have some pretty good news about the adoption. We found out some information regarding where we are at within MOI. We should know more by the end of the week. We will keep you posted when we know more.

Weekend

We had a very good relaxing weekend. When we got there Friday, in the shade the temp had been 111.5 and the next day it was 105 by 11am. We all played a lot of softball (early and late in the days because of the heat) and we went swimming a lot, too. There were a number of minor injuries, the most significant was Miss Kelly from upstairs getting hit in the mouth and nose by a softball as it bounced up off the ground. My lower left leg got a bit beat up, but nothing that shouldn't heal in about a week. Other people got hit by the softball, too, in various places (the ground we were playing on wasn't very smooth).

The only one issues caused some problems for us - we found out minutes before we left that the dog cage they have was occupied. That meant we had to figure out what to do with the dog. The first two nights I got little sleep as I tried to manage the dog and figure out what to do with her. Last night was best - we figured out where to put her and she was comfortable with it (we could not bring her in the building so we put her just outside the door where she liked it best).

I don't think that I took a single picture, unfortunately. Lou was loving the pool and so was Kayla and Carter. Tina had a good time, too. It is good to be back and I am looking forward to sleeping in a more familiar place.